Salute Salute50!

Ian Knight, Alex Haimann & Me meeting for the first time since 2019!

Wow, that was fun! All that preparation, planning, travelling and then the day itself just speeds by, far too quickly and SALUTE50 was over as quick as it begun!

I was delighted with the response that my new release, ZULU: WATER CART RESCUE received and felt justified in attending the event with the interest and many encouraging comments received. That said, SALUTE is of course a wargaming show with models, figures, paints and the many, many game displays being people's priority, so this remains very much an outreach event for comics and one that I'm willing to invest the time and energy in to see if a successful crossover can be made to justify the expense in attending. 

One thing I may have to do is make the fact that my books are comics more obvious, as despite the various signage and displays, many thought that I was selling Zulu War gaming rules and were interested if any figures were being produced or recommending manufacturers existing sets to suite such a venture! Most saw the funny side and were intrigued enough by the comics concept to give them a try but it is something I need to address in future.

Check out Warspite's video for a great SALUTE50 overview and a wee cameo after 09:30!

The event itself was certainly much busier than the previous covid hit 2021 one and everyone was saying that it was 'back' in terms of attendance and atmosphere so it was nice to fully experience the show that had enticed me previously. Certainly the new organising committee seemed to pull out the stops by adding many features such as panel talks, increased demonstration and participation games to give attendees more to do than just shop, which in turn encouraged them to stay at the show for longer so it didn't markedly drop off early afternoon like before.

With Tim and James of the Die Hards in mufti!

A personal highlight was of course catching up with chums that I'd not seen since my last South African trip in 2019, with historian and author Ian Knight and fellow enthusiast (and exhibition curator) Alex Haimann and Tim Rose and James Dix of the Die Hards - although I'd of course seen Tim at Salute in 2021. Our time was brief together but well spent with updates, ideas and more being discussed and shared ahead of July's very exciting Clash of the Empires exhibition, more to follow!

My handy backing table restock and display items

Being kept busy at the table I didn't really get the chance to look round the show myself but there are already a few videos like the one above on YouTube to give you a feel of the event. Not enough time to see everything was a common theme but I guess the additional venue and related costs may make an extension to two days prohibitive but we'll see.

The only game I did see was the really quite wonderful, Battle of Ntombi River wargame display presented by the Hornchurch Wargames Club from, of course the Zulu War! This was fabulous to see  and discuss with one of the Club members and of course Ian Knight who I had visited the real scene with in 2010 and 2014, a special moment indeed. 

Ian & I at Ntombe in 2014 after wading across the river!

So there you are, over in a flash but a lovely memorable day with a few other highlights and potential contacts made so hopefully worthwhile overall and I do enjoy trying different types of events to spread the word of independent comics so would like to return next time too, fingers-crossed. Thanks to all who stopped and chatted and showed interest in my efforts, very much appreciated and of course sincere congratulations to the South London Warlords on their 50th anniversary, here's to many more. 

But overall just delighted to finally get my ZULU comic out there in the wild, USUTHO!